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The 
Downfall of Humanity 

A Drama in Three Acts 



BY 



WILLIAM WILEY SCOTT 

Author of "The Crowning^^ 




BOSTON 

RICHARD G. BADGER 

THE GORHAM PRESS 



Copyright, 1920, by William W. Scott 



All Rights Reserved 



MADE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
Thb Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. 



^'IN 10 1921 



HISTORICAL 

It is said there is nothing new under the sun, 
equally true should it be said there is nothing secret 
upon the earth. 

Murder will out; so will the contents of treaties 
and secret agreements between nations; likewise 
also secret constitutions. When many concern 
themselves with a purpose or object nothing will 
long stay hidden; hence it is that the world to-day 
knows many if not all the declarations and articles 
incorporated in that most wonderful constitution 
ever written by any part of mankind, and which 
bears the title, "A Constitution for the Government 
of the World." 

Before that ancient city lost its former cognomen, 
there gathered at St. Petersburg a delegation of rep- 
resentatives from every country: There were dele- 
gates from England, Germany, France, Spain, Rus- 
sia, America; there were delegates from the old 
cities of Asia; there were delegates from the new 
cities of South America, and at least one delegate 
from every small country around the globe. These 
came not with pomp and ceremony and beating of 
drums. They gathered from the mysterious by- 
ways and the quiet night-ways, straying hither and 
straggling thither as though their coming bore with 
it no greater purpose than that of tramping the time 
away. Upon the arrival of a certain designated day, 
or rather a certain designated night, these dele- 
gates were called into convention. Their place 



HISTORICAL 

of meeting was in a large underground chamber in 
a deep, damp basement of a badly dilapidated build- 
ing located in a poorly lighted and not an over 
highly respectable part of what is to-day the city 
of Petrograd. Here, day after day, or rather night 
after night, this unprecedented representation held 
convention for the purpose of evolving a constitu- 
tion of rules by which all mankind could be gov- 
erned. They styled themselves the "World's Re- 
formers," or ''The Great International Convention 
of Boloskivers." After many days of arduous labor 
spent in much perspiration and the consumption of 
large quantities of dark, heavy liquor, the following 
constitution was adopted and thereupon ratified and 
thereby and then declared to be in force and effect 
and thus to remain henceforth and forever. 

All law, or laws, of every kind and nature, ever 
before enacted by whomsoever, which do not con- 
form to this constitution, were then and thereby de- 
clared to be and were revoked, cancelled and 
annulled, and declared to be of no further force 
and effect, being both obsolete and unconstitutional. 

Notwithstanding the many weighty problems of 
this august body let it forever be said that, to its 
everlasting dignity, it was harmonious. Let future 
historians write it down as such. No discording 
word jarred the serene tranquility of the smooth 
and peaceful working of this great convention, and 
at no time, while in session, were more than half of 
the delegates sound asleep from too copious use of 
dark liquor, and even this number of sleepers were 
greatly reduced by an order from the Chair pro- 
hibiting the use of anything but black beer while the 



HISTORICAL 

convention was in session. However, dear reader, 
do not think we mean here to speak lightly or even 
intimate that any nation on earth was not fully 
represented. Be you a native of Asia, Europe or 
America, don't feel yourself slighted. You were 
represented — your country was represented. The 
Sergeant-at-Arms prodded up each slumbering dele- 
gate when any article was presented for discussion 
and adoption. Every country's vote was cast with 
wide-open eyes. 

Neither take too lightly to heart the deep import 
and far-reaching purpose of this historic gathering 
which is here so briefly chronicled. For you the 
future may be pregnated with astounding events 
which date their inception back to this memorable 
gathering. Even already, in the span of a half 
dozen short years, empires have crumbled, crowned 
heads gone down! And, as yet, there has not been 
scarcely an attempt to bring into full force and 
effect the powerful principles and by-laws of this 
frightful constitution. Only a limited number of 
the by-laws are to-day operative in the world ; the 
Great Seal has. not been broken. When the Great 
Seal, which contains the full text of this powerful 
instrument, is removed and the full force and effect 
turned upon humanity, who can picture the black- 
ness which will spread over the earth? 



The Downfall of Humanity 



Place — Washington, D. C. 
Time — Future 

Act I 

Scene I. This scene takes place in a great room 
in the Hall of CommonSj a building erected over 
the ruins of the City of Washington, D. C.j the city 
having been destroyed by the Boloskivers. In this 
scene Father Time is called upon by the Son of Man 
to know what caused the downfall of humanity. 

Son of Man. Oh Father Time, from thy wisdom, 
the greatest of all wisdoms, reveal unto me thy 
humble servant that which has caused the 
downfall of humanity. Whereof, Father Time, 
this great calamity? 

Father Time. Bring hither the Black Book, the 
Bill of Death, and I will read to thee. 'Twas 
written many years ago, but lived to cause the 
downfall of humanity. Bring hither the Black 
Book and listen to its words. 

(Father Time reads the words of the Constitu- 
tion and By-Laws of the Boloskivers). 

9 



10 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 
GREAT WILL 

PREAMBLE 

We, the Boloskiver delegates of the World as- 
sembled, in order to form a World Union, establish 
justice, insure equal rights and full privileges, and 
to secure an equal division of the World's goods, 
dp ordain and establish this Constitution of the Fed- 
erated Boloskivers of the World. 

Article I 

All law is hereby declared vicious and inimical to 
the welfare of man and should be and is hereby 
cancelled, repudiated and set at naught and void, 
and the very word law itself, a misnomer, is hereby 
expugned henceforth from all language relative to 
the conduct of human affairs. 

Article II 

Be it enacted, therefore, that instead of the word 
law, which shall forever hereafter be null and void, 
all power shall issue from the will of this Consti- 
tution and the makers thereof and be forever desig- 
nated as the "Great Will." 



Article III 

-^ _,' enac 

of the Great 



It is hereby enacted and constituted, as the spirit 
the Great Will, that property of every nature 



ACT I n 

whatsoever, all lands, money, stocks and bonds, jew- 
els, railroads, ships, minerals beneath the earth's 
surface and all animals that graze thereon, and also 
all rnanner and kind of property that bears title 
or titles, said title or titles are hereby revoked, 
cancelled as being unconstitutional and in violation 
of the Great Will. The ownership of said proper- 
ties and all thereof shall be vested in the defenders 
of the Great Will to be divided by them equally 
among all peoples of the earth share and share alike ; 
each and every share to be, in monetary value, as 
great and no greater than the shares held by any 
person who is entitled to the blessings of the Great 

Article IV 

Be it hereby enacted that it shall comply with the- 
Great Will that any person who is eligible to an 
equal division and permitted to participate in the 
division of the world's goods, may, at the request of 
his personal desires, select his portion in money, or 
bonds, or stocks, or lands, or any other commodity 
available of the earth's goods. 

Article V 

On and after the date of breaking the Great Seal, 
it shall be in accord to the Great Will that any per- 
son or persons refusing to peacefully surrender and 
deliver up their property or properties and all there- 
of, for the purpose of division, shall be shot, and all 
persons who may be found in possession and owner- 



12 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

ship of property to the amount of one million dol- 
lars or more, shall be shot an5rivay for their past 
high crimes against humanity. 

Article VI 

The Great Seal, which cloisters the full powers 
of this convention, shall be opened when the now 
existing laws and customs of the nations of earth 
are broken down. 

Article VII 

It shall be the command of the Great Will that 
all defenders and eligible members be known as 
Boloskivers and the individual member as Bo, and 
it shall be the sacred duty always of each Bo to 
propagate Boisms or Bolosskiism in every part of 
the earth. 

Article VIII 

It shall be the duty of all Boes, when an oppor- 
tunity is present, to associate themselves, in every 
country, with any and every labor organization or 
labor unions. In these unions, it is the special wish 
of the Great Will that you spread Boism — some- 
times called propaganda. Urge less work and more 
pay, always more pay, regardless of whether the 
business will stand the tax; destroy the business; 
get a strike; strike, we want strikers; unsettle the 
accursed institutions and you will thus greatly 
hasten the day of the opening of the Great Seal. 



ACT I 13 

Article IX 

Inasmuch as war and excitement, misery and dis- 
traction, are great aids to our cause, the Great Will 
makes it the bonded duty of all defenders to urge 
war at all times and industriously assist in the cre- 
ation of entangling alliances, jealousies, distrust and 
inflame the public mind. We prosper in war in 
that it furnishes a fertile field for the spread of 
Boism and hastens the opening of the Great Seal. 
Get war and thou shalt be happy in the getting and 

obtain the blessings of the Great Will. 

i 

Article X 

) 
In thorough accordance to the Great Will, and 

in the desire of the spirit thereof to hasten the 
speedy opening of the Great Seal, it is hereby en- 
acted and imposed as a faithful duty upon each and 
every loyal defender to practice sabotage. Let all 
foolish ones who do not see the great coming light 
and agree with us feel the heavy hand of the Sabot. 
Burn their crops, burn their homes, burn their 
stock, burn their families; burn, burn, burn: If 
one or more of our members be arrested and amend- 
ed to the toils of that hateful custom called law, 
burn and spread terror and Boism; and if said 
hateful custom called law can not be, by spreading 
fear, fashioned to cloak our various wishes, burn. 
If one of our members be in the toils, do not stop 
burning 'til justice is frightened our way — our brand 
of justice. 



14 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

Article XI 

Be it known that one of l..^ prime ends to be 
attained by the Great Will in the opening of the 
Great Seal is to free the world from slavery. Since 
man shed his hair and tail and evolved himself from 
monkeydom and invented money, he has been in 
slavery — money slavery. These bonds, money 
bonds, must be broken. On an average throughout 
the world it takes one thousand slaves to support 
one money pirate. These pirates must be shot, one 
and all shot, likewise their families shot for the 
poisonous money taint oft travels in the family sys- 
tem. 

Article XII 

Furthermore, be it enacted to contribute to the 
essence of the Great Will that all Boes not only 
encourage war on any and every ground, but they 
shall also diligently study the use of all war appli- 
ances: study air-craft, poison gases, liquid fire, and 
any and all means and appliances which the ignor- 
ant-wise ones are inventing to destroy themselves 
with. Train well in these destructive arts and 
soon one Bo may be able to withstand an army. 
The day of the opening of the Great Seal is very 
near; they, the foolish-wise, are helping us to pre- 
pare; ay: the foolish governments; likewise, the 
money fools are helping. 

Article XIII 

It shall be the purpose of the Great Will, after 
the opening of the Great Seal, to eliminate all de- 



ACT I 15 

fects and correct all j)hysical ailments of the hu- 
man race by scient Uy breeding it, as a whole, 
up to a higher staiidard. Hence, a white male 
specie shall always be matched to a black or yellow 
female specie; likewise, also, to purge away that 
obnoxious insanity called religion, a saint shall be 
matched to a sinner. All defective children shall be 
shot at birth. It is only by this wise course and 
process that the world can become equal in thought 
and habit and humanity become amenable to single 
control. To this rule of cross-matching, however, 
saveth the Great Will, there shall forever be one 
exception: That relative to that race known as the 
Jew. With the Jew, naught but in-matching shall 
be accorded by the Great Will, and all female chil- 
dren shall be shot at birth, thus gradually eliminat- 
ing from earth this time-old race of money pests. 
No monetary equilibrium can be maintained while 
the Jew exists. Moreover, it shall be and hereby 
is the express command of the Great Will, that 
that superfluous and time-worn institution called 
marriage, be forever banished from the face of the 
globe, and relegated to oblivion, along with those 
other matters of trash called government, power, 
and all other rot that enslaves man and cramps and 
retards the human race from full and vigorous de- 
velopment. 

Article XIV 

It shall be the duty, at all times, when oppor- 
tunity is present, of our wise members of Boes to 
join those societies who are wont to call themselves 



i6 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

churches, and therein said Boes shall propagate the 
spirit of the Great Will. Be it known that noth- 
ing will wreck a government so quickly as having 
religious fanatics pick it to pieces with constitutional 
amendments against every manner of man's sins. 
Get amendments. Let us meddle these pestiferous 
churches into the business of State and we readily 
destroy the affairs of both Church and State. Get 
more amendments: Amend man from the cup; 
amend him from the pipe; amend him from the 
oath ; amend him to the Sabbath ; amend him to the 
curfew; amend him further and further from hu- 
man liberty and soon he will burst the bonds and 
wreck vengeance upon the amenders and straight- 
way join our ranks. Nothing destroys law so 
quickly as an overdose of law. Get whim laws and 
fad laws; let us have laws, many laws; laws pro, 
laws con, and laws contraiwise. Mix the church 
with affairs of state and raise a stench in the nos- 
trils of reason and thus hasten the day to breaking 
the Great Seal. 

ARTICLE XV 

Boes, be it known unto you that it is the com- 
mand of the Great Will that your attitude toward 
the press, except that part of it which belongs to us 
and is known by its motto **Oh Reason We Hail 
Thee," be one of variation to suit occasions as they 
may arise. When Boism gets a favorable hearing, 
applaud: when a jolt, frown. The press is a good 
disturber, assist it to remain as such ; it is also a 
good quieter and should be dissuaded from such a 
course. Part of the press, however, we may, for the 



ACT I J7 



present, look upon with grave concern; but rest 
assured, dear Boes, that when the Great Seal is 
broken all the press shall be shot. 

Article XVI 

Boes, it is the Great Will that you study ma... 
Man IS a savage. Jar the thin veneer of civilization 
trom his frame and man will stand forth in all his 
savage grandeur. To keep man thus, direct his 
thoughts m collective channels. See to it that he 
thmks collectively. Individual thinking is danger- 
ous to our cause. Teach man to think in mass and 
we prosper in our cause. We then put one of our 
number at the head of the mass to direct the course 
of human events. It is the system of single thought 
that constructs and does things not to our liking 
Down with the system of single thought. 

Article XVII 
Be it enacted that in full compliance with the 

ingly high tax be always encouraged, especially 
against the poor peoples of all countries. Nothing 
IS more conducive to our prosperity nor is there any- 
thing under the sun which will more speedily bring 
tLs"'r^°T"^ the Great Seal than burdensomf 

thev wfll^^ . ^°' "^"^f ^'^ '^^y ^°^^ ^"d soon 
tney will come to our ranks. 

Article XVIII 

. Know ye, of our clan, one and all and take warn- 
ing that contentment among the masses is not pro- 



1 8 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

pitious to our cause; therefore it is a command of 
the Great Will that all Boes constantly endeavor to 
create great political excitement among the popu- 
lace, making them believe that they are duped and 
swindled of their rights and are being constantly 
fooled ; that some other governor or government 
would be better for them ; anything for excitement 
and unrest. This can best be done by assisting to 
office wide-mouthed demagogues and one-sided poli- 
ticians. This gentry can be readily distinguished by 
their lugging forth many great reform bills, and 
great burdens of all kinds of foolish legislation and 
their constantly harangueing the peoples about the 
wrongs they are suffering. Assist to office these 
fools and use them as tools, but above all things 
never scandalize our order of Boes by allowing one 
of these to become a member, and be it faithfully 
known that when the day is come and the Great 
Seal is opened this bunch of skunks, one and all, 
will be shot. 

Article XIX 

The Great Will has ordained that the color of 
our flag shall be red, signifying that much blood 
must flow before the opening of the Great Seal; 
however, on that day this emblem shall float from 
every flagstaff throughout the entire world, and if 
any there be who do not salute this flag they shall 
be immediately shot, for be it known by all that 
this flag heralds the dawn of equalization : equaliz- 
ation of wealth, equalization of opportunities, equal- 
ization of blessings and happiness, and the eradi- 



ACT I 19 

cation of all special privileges; the eradication of 
all government and every one of those thousands 
of brands of religions which delude men; eradica- 
tion also of that fanatical idea much prevalent that 
there is such a place as a Hell. 

Article XX 

It is especially provided in the wisdom of the 
Great Will that on the day of breaking the Great 
Seal woman shall forever take her proper place in 
the world at the feet of man. Those who are not 
shot in infancy and allowed to live, shall be taught 
to be man's helpmeets and properly minister to his 
wants and desires and also to bear many children; 
all females not so bearing a goodly number shall be 
shot or tortured to death as a warning to those com- 
ing in the future. 

Article XXI 

It is hereby made a special act of the Great 
Will that we receive unto our membership all races, 
creeds and colors, except that antique prodigy known 
as the Jew. With the Jew among our number 
monetary equilibrium can never be effected or main- 
tained. Provided further, however, if a Jew re- 
nounce that hateful quality he calls religion, he may 
then temporarily join us until such time as we see 
fit to shoot him. 

Article XXII 

Be it known, now and forever, Boes, that it is 
both the spirit and command of the Great Will that 



20 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

all members use bombs, fire and poisons to destroy 
property and life of men and stock of those foolish 
ones who do not see the great light and bow to the 
Great Will. 

Father Time. This Book of Death was written 
many years ago, my son, and to-day the actors 
are on the stage. See them, they come, they 
come. 

{Exit Father Time and Son). 

Scene H 

Golkalk. Sabat, hear ye, old Time has turned the 
great fortune wheel much to our favor ; the 
great day has passed its dawn, the glorious day 
of opening the Great Seal. The Boloskivers 
have triumphed this little old world around. 
Come, Sabat, whip thy lazy will along; the 
day wears on, and yet we have a few more 
trivial pests we must speedily bid a blessed rid- 
dance. These are cooped close about and ready 
at hand. The one Is the last remnant of the 
law ; the other is the last remnant of the 
church. The church has swallowed up the 
law and stands ready to deliver both unto 
death. Right well have our emissaries wrought 
in combining the twain. Together they shall 
demit themselves of life most graciously. 

And now, dear Sabat, bring forth that last 
rellce of law, bring forth His Honor, the 
Judge. 



ACT I 21 

Sabat. Ay: ay: fond master, thy words fall like 
music through the portals of mine ears. I will 
haste Sparticus, the slave, to fetch hither the 
Judge. He is the law, he is the law, we shall 
have no more of him. Sparticus, at our feet, 
and now, produce the law. 

{Enter Sparticus leading the Judge). 

Golkalk. Ha! Ha! thy Honor, wouldst thou 
speak, ere thou weepest and die? Thy day hast 
come, no more wilt thou know two laws; one 
for the great and one for the small. Thou, oh 
Court, art the law, for thou art the minister 
of the law. Laws fail of law when not admin- 
istered. Impart thy wisdom ; is it not lawful 
to break an unlawful law? Who shall say this 
law or that is lawful ; who be the judge if not 
thee? Ah, there is the rub; the marker or the 
maker. Law is a thing of power and burden- 
some; an over-burden of laws sinks beneath 
the very waves it would calm. Thou, oh 
Court, art too numerous; thy business at law 
too great; we will have no more of thee. 
Down with the law. 

Sabat. Yea, down with the law; the knife, the 
torch. Thy head shall be fed to yonder vul- 
tures; thy body to the denizens of the deep. 
Wouldst thou say a parting word before this 
knife cleaves thy throat? 

The Court. Where power has gone mad it is a 
wanton waste of words for reason to speak. 

Golkalk. Away with him ; away with the law for- 



22 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

ever. Bring forth that last barrier to our full 
happiness and complete freedom in the domin- 
ation of the world's affairs. Bring forth the 
Bible dabbler, who calls himself a minister. 
Hear ye, Sabat, hark ye well, and in full truth 
deliver thyself. Answer me, are all dead, save 
this last one; all churches burned to the 
ground ? Truly then 'tis a happy day ; we shall 
have an end to Biblical domineering on earth; 
bring this remnant forth. Let us behold the 
manner of mortal cloth wherein immortality 
filters through? 
Sabat. Sparticus, hie thee to the clergy and fetch 
hither the last talent in sacred raiment wrapped 
about ; hither to the end ; hither for the end ; 
hither haste the end of that which has been, 
ay, since time began, one of the greatest powers 
that ever swayed man — the power of delusion. 
Hither the end of this mystery. Henceforth 
let the eye of reason search out the paths for 
man. Let freedom reign in reason's kingdom. 
No more shall dire prophecy lug forth its pack 
of trouble against the current. 

i 

{Enter Sparticus leading Rev. Mereman). 

Golkalk. Stand forth, thy Reverence, expound. 
Impart to us the reason why thy holiness builds 
so many brands of church, erected all to one 
lonely God? Can all spires point to a single 
center, and doest thou not teach thy several 
flocks to vow each that the other stands in the 
wrong? Canst thou save thyself at contrari- 



ACT I 23 

wise? How many art thou, one thousand or 
more? How many Gods? one sayest thou; 
then this riddle thou canst explain. Speak, thy 
last words, speak. Thou hast become political. 
In the wreck of things political, destruction is 
measured by the yardstick of intelligence. 

Rev. Mereman. Father, forgive them; they know 
not what they do. 

Golkalk. Away with him; away, away; perish 
religion from the face of the earth. A greater 
day had passed its dawn; the noontide of 
reason draws on apace. This day the Great 
Will supplants the law ; the Great Will super- 
sedes the church; the Great Will, henceforth, 
the Holy of Holies: All hail the Great Will. 
Let delusions waft themselves away upon their 
phantom wings. Those temples of worship all 
burned to earth, sayest thou, Sabat? and they 
who mourn, and they who weep, and they who 
dole out solace at the shrine, Sabat, where are 
they? 

Sabat. Burned at the stake or shot, your sweet 
honor, burned or shot. 

Golkalk. And all law of the land, every vestige 
gone sayest thou, and its lovely army of votar- 
ies, where are they? 

Sabat. Gone, sweet Golkalk, gone; shot and 
burned ; their very ashes scattered to the fore- 
winds. Gone, shot and burned. 

Golkalk. And those human vultures, the master 
money kings and millionaires, where are they, 
Sabat, where are they? Fail not in truth 
Sabat, to render unto me your answer, for this 



24 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

day the world's goods shall be justly divided, 
and not one of this clan shall remain in the 
land. 

Sabat. They are on this earth no more, Great 
Golkalk ; gone one and all. Shot and burned ; 
ay, and their families shot and burned. All 
gone, shot and burned, all save one, the Jew. 
We have the Jew here, securely locked in the 
great iron cage. For the Jew, death carries a 
poor sufficiency of justice. We shall feed him 
his own gold. To satiate the appetite of his 
metallic conscience he shall have served him 
each day one farthing; thus his days may end 
in golden misery. Would I speak by riddles, 
all the world loves a Jew. 

Golkalk. Gone is the law; gone is the church; 
gone is the government; to each a long and 
hearty farewell. The field of all human en- 
deavor is yet young. We shall now divide, 
share and share alike, all the world's great 
wealth! Many and bloody are the hard years, 
Sabat, through which we have wrought and 
fought to reach this blessed day. This is the 
day of World freedom; this is the day of the 
World's equality of wealth. This is the bright 
and shining day that poverty packs up her 
troubles and moves from earth. All hail to 
the day that every man's fortune is equal to 
every man's fortune. Sabat, are we all of one 
accord : are there any yet left who do not 
join full well with our Great Free Will; any 
remaining who still have a yearning for things 
that were; any whose mind, with each caprice 
of the weather, plays at change? 



ACT I 25 

Sabat. None, sweet Golkalk, none. All shot and 
• burned. Weil sayest thou that bitter and 
■ black has been our progress; we have slain one 
half the human race. Here, on this memorable 
spot, where we rear our temple of power, is 
where once stood the proud capitol of America. 
This was their arena where gladiator met glad- 
iator and stabbed to the death their govern- 
ment. No Caesar in a Senate-house 'ere re- 
ceived more cowardly blows. Personal ag- 
grandeur and jealousy of parties over-floodeci 
the interest of the people. To-day that proud 
capitol is a monument in ashes, a tribute to 
political corruption. Ay, indeed right well did 
our faithful Boloskivers plan when we sent 
to their legislation hall millionaires and schem- 
ing lawyers whose consciences were left in their 
mothers' wombs. There stands not a capitol 
on earth to-day. The lords of law with the 
lords of wealth went tumbling with their 
buildings of grandeur to the same ruins. The 
world stands even: Man stands full abreast 
to liberty ; none there are to restrain him. Old 
customs have gone down ; a new era has arisen. 
The world holds wealth for all her children ; 
each man shall be a man of power. Let the 
golden chaldron be brought among the faithful 
defenders of the Great Will. 

{Enter entire troop with repositor.) 

Golkalk. Sabat, speak, what wilt thou say touch- 
ing the contents of this sacred repositor? 



26 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

Sabat. Therein lie the ashes garnered from the 
bodies of the money lords of the world that 
was; well mingling with them are the ashes 
of all that forth cried itself to be the church, 
and withal well salted by the ashes of all that 
was wont to proudly proclaim itself to be the 
law. Well mixed forever be their ashes. 

Golkalk. Sabat, thrust thy hand to the bottom of 
that wholesome dish and raise to the light of 
day the Great Will. To-day we break the 
Great Seal. 

{Sabat thrusts in his hand and raises the sealed 
parchment.) 

Golkalk. Break the seal and read, Sabat, read, 
that the world may know and be wise unto 
freedom forever. 

Sabat. (Reading). Henceforth forever, man 
shall know no law, nor religion, nor restraint 
by neither man nor God. Happy be man, thus 
sayeth the Great Will. 

Golkalk. Bring forth the great lockers. 

(The great lockers are wheeled in). 

Golkalk. Sabat, speak, what canst thou say as 
touching the sacred contents of the great lock- 
ers? 

Sabat. When thou denominate these as sacred, oh 
Golkalk, thou speakest well. This is the shrine 
around which cling, leachlike, the hearts of the 
human race. These lockers contain the stocks 



ACT I 27 

and bonds, deeds and titles to the world's 
wealth, and here also is contained the moneys 
of the world. 
Golkalk. Then divide, Sabat, rendering to each 
in the land share and share alike, but, dear 
Sabat, {aside) let thine hand search out two 
sizes of shares; the larger shares for thee and 
me. 

{Enter NemOj who has had no share). 

Nemo. Give unto me my rightful share; give 
unto my child a share likewise. 

Golkalk. Woman, read the Great Will; the law 
is gone. Thou art henceforth slave. Down 
with thee, slave. A servant unto man's desires 
shalt thou ever be; the law is gone, the law is 
forever gone. Hie thee hence, concubine; go. 
The Great Free Will rules the World. 

Nemo. And my child's share; shall my child not 
share in this world's goods? 

Golkalk. Woman, thou hast no child; thy child 
belongs to the state; 'tis state property. Hear 
thee, woman, thou too art state property. The 
law is gone. This is the mandate of the Great 
Will. Hail and glory to the Great Will; go 
and obey. 

Nemo. Property of the state, sayest thou? Then 
why the state if the law be gone? Whereof be 
there a state? 

Golkalk. The Great Will, woman, the Great 
Will; cease thy babbling or thou shalt be 
shot. 



28 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

Nemo. By whose authority may I be shot, and 
whence cometh thy authority if all be equal? 

Golkalk. The Great Free Will ; the Will of they 
who command. 

Nemo. My child was born in wedlock; my child 
is mine. 

Golkalk. Wedlock, sayest thou, wedlock woman. 
Knowest thou not that the Great Will has ban- 
ished wedlock from earth? Foolish woman thy 
child shall be snatched from thy bosom {taking 
away the child). Here Sparticus, send this child 
*to the Isles of Java; and this woman, give her 
unto this black to live unto him and bear him 
children. Go black, go woman with thy other 
half ; let the races be mixed ; there shall not 
be a difference on this earth. The road to a 
better people is a road through blood. Avaunt, 
dogs; ye are equal all. {Exit all). 

Scene III. {Golkalk bedecking himself with the 
rainment of state in private office). 

{Enter Spores). 

Spores. Golkalk, the great, hear ye, there is a 
robber abroad in the land. The notorious rob- 
ber, Boaz, is killing the people and taking their 
wealth. He makes slaves of those who submit 
rather than die. Can this lawless one not be 
brought to Justice? 

Golkalk. The law is gone. 

Spores. He scatters suffering and terror through 
all the countryside and has collected unto him 
a mighty army who, through fear, do his hel- 



ACT I 29 

lish bidding. Hast thou no means to reach jus- 
tice in the working of thy schemes? 

Golkalk. The law is gone. 

Spores. Woe be to man when the law is gone. 

{Enter Faunshaw) . 

Faunshaw. Golkalk, while I slept on yesternight, 
my wealth slept poorly. Some thief filched 
away that which thou gavest me. My wealth 
is gone. Send an officer. Bring back my 
wealth. 

Golkalk. The law is gone. 

Spores. The law is gone, then wherein shall we 
find protection? 

{Enter Nita — a ragged girl). 

Nita. Please your honor, is this the great Bo Gol- 
kalk? 

Golkalk. Speakest well, my lass; what wilt thou? 

Nita. My mother lies dying in our home. My 
father lies dead by her side. My mother craves 
not these worldly bonds and deeds you sent her; 
she would have her Bible you took away. Take 
these back, oh Golkalk, and spare to her the 
comforts of that old Bible for just one dying 
hour. 'Tis more than all the world to her 
dying soul. Give back the book, oh Golkalk. 

Golkalk. The Bibles of the world repose in ashes; 
the book is gone. 

Nita. Gone, oh God, gone; the book gone, gone, 
merciful angels of heaven, then all is gone. Hope 
shut out from death's dark hour; no solace 
anywhere; death doubles its sting amid 



30 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

wealth's gilded halls. Thou hast, oh Golkalk, 
taken from man the most precious of all heri- 
tages: the right of man to know the will of 
God. Bring back my mother's Bible or let me 
die. 

Golkalk. The church is gone. 

Faunshaw. Come, Spores, let us be on our way. 
There are happy days ahead ! I feel their touch 
warming the courses of my veins. We are all 
equal, Spores, equal of any other man. All 
with wealth alike Spores, we shall work no 
more. My wealth stolen: ah, that's of trivial 
account. Where there is no protection all are 
equal. Thou labored in days past. Spores, and 
so did L Thou a teacher in an university and 
I the janitor who carted the ashes away. But 
now the old pile reposes in ruins ; we are living 
in a new and greater day. Thee taught me and 
I agreed with thee, Spores, that all men should 
be equal and have an equal share in all; glor- 
ious thought we cuddled happily to our hearts, 
and longed for the beauties of this golden hour 
when we could cast care away, and work no 
more. Work? No: it would be disgraceful 
to work for another. We are their equal; we 
cannot be their servants. In a wilderment, I 
love to agree with myself. In wisdom we are 
marvels; we have tweedled down great things 
to small; the elephant to the ant. Come, 
Spores, brag up thy past wisdom. We took 
God's arrangement into our own hands. We 
are lords. Spores, money lords, one and all. 
Turn these human passions free and let them 



ACT I 31 

gambol as lambs over the green. Canst thou 
not see the unwisdom of the wise? Ah what 
fools, in those days, we were in well-doing. 
Where's thy cheer, Spores, you do not laugh. 
What trouble can stray across the brain of a 
money lord? What, thy wife! Golkalk taken 
away thy wife to live unto him, a concubine. 
Come good man, smile; this is but a trifling 
incident of ultra-socialism, thy pet theme which 
thou taught unto thy classes, even sometimes 
surreptitiously. Ah 'tis that that makes thee 
sad ; could not see adown the future to where 
ultra-socialism fruited into Boism, the triumph 
of the Boloskivers. Cheer thee up good man, 
what we teach will one day come back to us 
and tell its own tale. Come, let us be merry; 
our ways are of our own making. We but 
followed our thoughts with selfish tread. My 
brain reels drunkenly in the glory of these 
scenes. Bring on the dancers; the dance, the 
dance. 

{Enter woman waltzing with a skeleton hugged 
to her breast). 

Faunshaw. Behold, Spores, the dance of death! 
Fill thine eyes with gladness, Spores, and tune 
thine heart to the music and grace of motion. 
Dance on fair dancer, dance on. Thy arms 
hold all that is left of man when motherhood 
is dishonored : Dance on. Ring loud the gongs 
in hell; the day is come. Man lives with too 
much freedom filled. Bolshevism rules around 
the world ! 

Curtain 



ACT II 

Time — Two years later. 
Scene I — Golkalk's mansion on the Potomac River 

Golkalk. Sabat, where is my slave, Sparticus. 

Sabat. Don't Sabat me. I am thy equal. Let it please 
thee to address thy equal as Bo Sabat, therefore 
sparing me the slight trouble of burning down 
upon thine own head this great house which 
thou hast so graciously stolen from the right- 
ful owner. 

Golkalk. {Aside). His brain has been locked up 
in a whiskey cell for these many years, shut 
out from the light of reason, compassion, and 
the sense of honor. 

Golkalk. Bo Sabat, where is my slave? 

Sabat. Gone on a strike, Golkalk, gone out on a 
strike. The habits thou taughtest him in days 
of yore linger in his system still. Verily he 
rates himself the equal of any man. He will 
not work. 

Golkalk. All the world is a prison; let the dogs 
stir around. The lash shall duty teach him at 
the whipping post. This wanton manner of 
conduct shall be reported to the high coun- 
cil, the lashing squad. This kind of thing shall 
cease. We must have subordination. To the 
whipping squad send this slave by the next 
train. 

32 



ACT II 33 

Sabat. The train does not go; the trainmen have 
their equal share of this world's goods. In 
wealth they are the equal of any man; they 
will be the servants of no man. They will not 
work. The wheels rust idly upon the rails; 
the fires slumber drowsily; the steam is gone. 

Golkalk. The boat, Bo Sabat, the boat. 

Sabat. The boat sleeps peacefully in her berth. 
To the wine and gaming tables the sailors have 
gone. They too have wealth and will not 
work. 

Golkalk. My car; my flying machine ; bring them 
hither. This slave must have transportation 
to the lashing squad. 

Sabat. Thy aviator in fair company with thy 
chaffeur are away with their wealth upon 
pleasure bent. They will not work. 

{Enter slave girl with market basket). 

Slave girl. Master, I return thee thy money; the 
markets are closed. What thou wouldst have 
I cannot buy. With their great share of 
wealth they are satisfied. They will not work. 
The merchants have gone a pleasure seeking. 
The plow stands idle in the field ; the weeds 
have carried the gardens away. The farmer 
with his wealth has gone a pleasure seeking. 
He will not work. There is no corn in the 
mill and the vintor refuses to vint more wine. 
Thy money, master, has become a trash ; it will 
not buy. 

{Enter second slave girl). 



34 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

Slave girl. Master, thy child sleeps of a distemper 

near unto death. 
Golkalk. Fetch hither my physician, slave, be 

quick. 
Slave. Master, thy physician has great wealth, his 

shop is closed. His pursuit is pleasure in a 

foreign land. 
Golkalk. The phone, the phone; give me the 

phone. 
Slave. From the board the keys are drawn; the 

linemen have let the lines go down. Right 

merrily they join voices around festive boards; 

their wealth they care only to enjoy. They 

will not work. 
Golkalk. My child must have care; my child, my 

child. 

{Enter Faunshaw) . 

Faunshaw. Is not the child the property of the 
State? Then let the State cure its own ills. 

Golkalk. Away fool. Trifle me not at this sol- 
emn hour. Save my child. I will pay; I 
will pay. 

Faunshaw. Pay, pay; ah, ha; sweet is the music 
in the jingle of thy coin; a funeral dirge in 
leaden sounds. I care not for thy pay; others 
care not for mine. Wealth is dead when it 
fails to buy. 

{Enter little school girl). 

Schoolgirl. Master, there is no school; the teach- 
ers have gone. They need not the paltry pay 



ACT II 35 

for which there Is no demand. They have 
their full share of the world's goods and will 
serve no more. School, dear master, school is 
out. 

Golkalk. Fie on school! I will have my wants or 
murder every man. Wine ! Wine ! My head 
reels. Wealth, oh wealth hath thou failed me; 
gone to dross in my hands? Pleasure, Pleas- 
ure, sweet maiden, come unto me. The wine 
of joy, we shall wring it from a tear. A ser- 
mon preach through all the world ; our hearers 
be but one and that ourself. Honor in wealth, 
sayest thou? Away with such manner of 
heathenish trash ; mouthed by one and mocked 
by another. Where are they; where are those 
Boes, those boon companion Boes, who helped 
me pile this misery upon myself? 

Sabat. Out murdering their fellow man, and in 
lawless style gathering in shares that belong to 
them not; ay, not money alone do they steal; 
they steal the soul and make slave of the body. 
Glorious is the work of the Great Will. Boaz, 
the Terrible, has one thousand slaves who do 
his every bidding. 

Faunshaw. Is not this the freedom vouchsafed of 
the Great Will ? Is not this full human liberty 
without the restraint of law? Is not this the 
ripe-fruit of ultra-socialism? Is not this the 
Bolshevism for which Sabat and Boism spilled 
half the world's blood? Is not this human 
liberty without human law ? Is not this Chris- 
tian privilege without the Cross? Hated law, 
didst thou; hated the church, didst thou; de- 



36 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 



stroyed the law, didst thou; destroyed the 
church didst thou? Go now, revel in thine 
own self-made hell. 

I 
Scene H — Nitas humble home 

I 
(Enter brother). 

Brother. Dear sister Nita, I starve of hunger. 
From us our portion of goods has been stolen. 
There is no law; there is no work. I have 
searched the country over and can find no place 
to turn my hand. The mines are closed; the 
mills are closed; the factories are closed; there 
is no work in the land. 

Nita. Sit thee here dear brother, and take my por- 
tion of herbs and roots; 'tis all I have for 
food. Nature strives to supply when man de- 
serts his post. 

Brother. Thanks to Nature's God for these. Any 
land looks well to the man who has long fared 
the seas. Dear sister, to obtain food for our 
sustenance I shall join the slave farms ; it is the 
only way. It is a hard way ; 'tis a bitter way, 
but there is left no other way. 

Nita. Brother, that is not a wise way; it is not 
the way of wisdom. 

Brother. Who can say who is wise, or even what 
wisdom is, and analyze this portion and that 
and denominate the good? Hunger of the 
stomach hath power to control the brain. 

Nita. Is it so bad as that? Are there many slave 
farms? 



ACT II 37 

Brother. Yes, sister; there are slave farms 
throughout all the world. 'Tis the system 
now. The ruthless outlaws take away the 
people's goods, and force the owners into the 
bonds of slavery. There they toil without 
pay or wage, producing food for which they 
receive treatment both frightful and hellish. 
Yes, it is the system without law; 'tis the sys- 
tem of force; a system estranged from God's 
mercy. It will ever be the system 'til there 
is law and government in the land. We are 
living in the blackest of all black ages. The 
. red flag waves over every land. 

Nita. Brother, did you not once upon a time be- 
long to a great and powerful labor union? 

Brother. Yes, dear sister, I did. 

Nita. And where is that great labor union now? 

Brother. Destroyed, dear sister, destroyed by its 
very own self. Discretion we threw to the 
wind and received with open arms all who 
would come and join. The Bolshivers, wolves 
in sheep's clothing, came among us in great 
numbers. With a dimness of the eye, we saw 
only one side of the world's industries. We 
were taught that we were creators of all and 
rightfully owned the management of all. We 
were called upon to fight for all. We failed 
to comprehend that we were but one of two 
partners, the welfare of whose firm pended in 
reason by both concerned. The wolves among 
us howled for fight; we fought; we destroyed. 
We placed not at our head men of reason and 
temperance; we placed the radicals there. We 



38 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

i 

examined not the other side; we called it all 
our own affair. It were well with us 'til our 
super-seers grasped for more than the business 
would bear. Strife, tumult and mad ravings 
estrayed our feet from wisdom's ways. We 
saw not through our own eyes, neither heard 
we with our own ears. Yes, sister dear, our 
union was great and powerful, and with reason 
and moderation as our guides the world would 
be safe and sane to-day. But alas, alas, Bolshe- 
vism came. 

{Enter Faunshaw). 

Faunshaw. They come, they come; Boaz and his 
band. There is no time to be lost. We must 
flee to the hills. 

Nita. I will not leave my home. Why come they 
here? 

Faunshaw. It has gone abroad that there is a 
Bible here, likewise a flag that wears not the 
color of red. These they seek, and this their 
hellish mission. If found within these walls, 
we shall be made prisoners all. It is a violation 
of the commands of the Great Will, and the 
penalty is death. We would have but a single 
day to live. 

Nita. There is a world of time in a single day; 
another such world may never roll around. 
These sacred treasures shall yet live for man 
and home. This trust I shall defend. 

Faunshaw. Woman, why fly into the face of 
death? 



ACT II 39 

(Nita hides flag and Bible in secret spot). 

{Enter Boaz and his band). 

Boaz. Speak, woman, is there a Bible here Is 

there a traitor's flag? Come, out with the 

truth. 
Nita. Wouldst thou have the truth where there is 

no Bible? Is not the truth dangerous to thee? 
Boaz. Slaves, search. 
Nita. Slaves, search. 
Faunshaw. Boaz, what wilt thou have here? Wilt 

thou take the life of those who have harmed 

thee not ? 
Boaz. Not life, but body and soul; slaves I want, 

of paltry service are the dead to me. 
Faunshaw. Spare this woman to her home. 
Boaz. We love not the word spare. What, slaves, 

no flag, no Bible found ? Then these may live, 

but serve us they shall. We must prosper. 
Nita. Why filch a noble word to clothe a wicked 

design ? 
Boaz. Come, slaves, come one and all. We go 

this night to take prisoner the great Golkalk. 

At arms I am stronger than he; his slaves 

shall be mine. Onward slaves, I shall be King. 
Faunshaw. When the strong destroy the strong, 

how shall fare the weak ? Unfettered by law, 

man is lower than beast. 

Scene III — Golkalk's great farm on the 
Potomac River 



40 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

{Enter Boaz with drawn dagger), 

Boaz. Awake, Golkalk, awake from thy dreams of 
peace and plenty. Thy day of power has found 
its end. Thou art my prisoner. 

Golkalk. What, thou too, brother Boaz! 

Boaz. Don't ''brother" me; I know no brotherly 
love. There is none in the Great Will. Come, 
arise to a prison cell. Slaves, bring forth the 
great cage. 

{Enter cage). 

Sabat. The Jew, the Jew. The cage is the Jew's 
home. Let us have the Jew's blood. 

Boaz. I command here. Out with thee Sabat, 
no more blood. The Jew shall be my slave. 
Come forth Jew, upon thy bended knees. 

{Nita releases the Jew and Boaz thrusts Golkalk 
into the great prison cage). 

Boaz. There end thy days, Golkalk, as a dog, and 
die. Thy slaves are mine. We live in an age 
without government. Happy be thee in thy 
self-made paradise. All hail the Great Will. 

Sabat. Arise, Jew, to the exalted station of slav- 
ery. 

Boaz. Away with the cage, away with Golkalk to 
the blackest dungeons of the castle, there to live 
his Utopian dreams. 

Golkalk. Oh God, have I swam rivers of blood 
but to reach a prison cell? Give back my free- 
dom, and I will ask nothing more of the world. 



ACT II 41 

Nita, Ah, how few our worldly wants when we 
come to die. Great Golkalk, didst thou not 
say in thy wonderful wisdom, "there is no 
God?" Why now cry out "Oh God, oh 
God?" 

Faunshaw. Come, Nita and thy brother, come. 
They move the cage and gather the slaves. Now 
is our time, come. All is propitious; this is 
the glad moment. Let us steal away under 
cover of this friendly night and flee to foreign 
parts. The clock strikes the hour of one, 
come. 

Nita. Hold, Faunshaw, ere I go. The slave who 
wears a scar above his eye, has hidden beneath 
his shirt my Bible and my flag. It was he who 
found them; I importuned him to report no 
find. Within even the breast of a slave there 
reposes a warmth for law and God. Send 
quickly the slave to the garden wall where 
I my treasure may reclaim. 

{Slave meets Nita at secluded spot and is in act 
of handing her Bible and flag when Boaz suddenly 
appears ) . 

Boaz. Ha, ha, the Bible; ha, ha, the flag! Now 
I shall—" 

1 

(Nita whips out a small revolver and fires. Boaz 
never finishes the sentence. Nita and her party de- 
part through the night, waving aloft the Bible arid 
the flag). 

Curtain 



ACT III 

Time — Some Years Later 

Scene I — The caverns of the Mammouth Cave, 
Kentucky, Habits of primitive man 

All characters dress in skins of animals. Imple- 
ments and customs are those of the crude cave man 
of pre-civilization. 

Cave Father. Come hither my son ; hark and heed 
thy sire's words. Mine days are almost gone. 
Mine eyes see dimly, mine ears are dull, and 
mine step too feeble to cross the hither land. 
Mine many years come heavily down upon me, 
how many I do not know. They bear me soon 
back to the shades of the hunting lands beyond. 
The Great Spirit has dealt to us as unto a 
kindly friend. Our enemies are few, though 
of them many there be who are dead. Times 
and times at war with them, we stand to-day 
as master among the caves. Just beyond the 
hills, their caves are there, the caves of the 
Seminoles. In bitterness and hatred vile, these 
are our greatest enemies, the Seminoles. Among 
their tribe there resides a maiden rare of form 
and fair to behold. I would that she grace the 
cave of a noble brave; yours, my son. Fare 
forth with war-club this enemy among; strike 
her down; bear her here beneath the harvest 
42 



ACT III 43 

moon. We, the Choctaws, are greater than 
the Seminoles. Take warriors bold, with many 
a stone; slay down their ranks into their 
inner fold ; bring home this lass. Her blood 
shall we add to the Choctow race, thus please 
the spirits in the shades beyond. 
Son. Sire of mine, thy wish stands to great favor 
with thy son. Among the enemy in deadly 
strife ; we shall go a wiveing. 

Scene II 

Seminole cave. Choctaw's son steals into cave at 
night, striking sleeping girl over the head with club 
and stunning her, throws her across his back and 
bears her away. 

Chief. Up Seminoles, up and to war. The Choc- 
taw hath stolen our little Silver-Eyes. 
Jll Seminole Warriors. To war, to war. 

Scene III 

The chamber of the cave occupied by Nita. She 
sleeps in a nest made of leaves and moss, crudely 
rocked up around the edges with rough stone. A 
cave man, with club in hand, is stealing stealthily 
near her berth. 

Faunshaw. Stay thy savage hand, cave man, touch 
not the sleeping girl. Away with thee or all 
will not be well. 

Nita. (waking). What goes wrong that arouses 
me from slumber's sweet embrace? 



44 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

Faunshaw. The cave man would wive thee with a 
club. To save thee, fair sleeper, I awoke thee 
from thy slumbers. 

Nita, And from my paradise of dreams, oh Faun- 
shaw ; in my dreams I wandered back to happy 
childhood days and things that were before the 
fall of man. There, oh there, so vivid, like liv- 
ing things again, they come upon the tablet of 
memory. There, Faunshaw, there; see that 
care-free girl — the kitten and the great house- 
dog romping on the lawn — the neighbor boy 
peering slyly over the hedge — the great farm- 
house with porticos — the father from work 
returning — the wife's welcome smile — the child 
in arms with kisses covered — the maid, the 
man; the cows — the birds that flit from tree 
to tree — the corn, the grass, the flowers — the 
geese, the chicks, and the little wee swine — 
the goat, the lamb and the kine — there, the 
village just across the fields — the cars, the 
bustle, and the flyers — and the river that runs 
below, where the boats go with their com- 
merce laden — and great ships in the air from 
everywhere hastily destined — to the sound of 
the bell of the village school, the children in 
groups hasten — and the whistles of the fac- 
tories call to labor the men, the merchant, the 
miller, and many — the lawyer, the court and 
the executor with transgressors are dealing — 
ministers and priests with Bible in hand, the 
troubled ones consoling — gay parties laugh in 
picnic dells — the world full of mirth is flow- 
ing. 



ACT III 45 

Faunshaw. Come, awake fair dreamer. Those are 
things that were before the fall of labor and of 
law. No land can live without a law. From 
this cave went man forth a million years ago 
to fight the fight with man; and losing in the 
fight, returned. The greater enemy of man is 
man. Naught but scars remain on memory's 
tablet, it were better to say, and think thee 
upon things that are real. It were safer to 
tread among serpents than to walk among 
men : hell is created in the heart. Oh, dreamer, 
my thoughts ramble, my head reels, my heart 
trembles at the awful reality of the over-press- 
ing now. Has the race of man run its bloody 
course? Is the end of all drawing to a close? 
The cave witch, here comes the cave witch. 
She will know and give us light. Speak witch. 
What sayest the Oracles? Answer, is the race 
of man drawing near its doom? Is there hope, 
a ray across the dark span? Your voice 
trembles ; you say yes ; all yet will be well with 
man? Come muse, bring forth the raiment for 
the thought; in words of thanks I would tell 
to all the world. 

Witch. The great codes of Truth and Nature are 
made up of but few principles, and these are 
very plain and simple. Nature has left that 
man mcomplete who cares only for self. There 
are scattered in every path blessings enough, if 
garnered, to make of life a success. Without 
the clouds, the sun its welcome would lose; 
without life's pains, the heart would scarce 
gather gladness. If only ways trod by man 



46 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

( 
were of his own planning he would scarce ar« 
rive at a happy goal; a hand unseen points 
this way and that, else many fall; who of us 
sees the abysses we miss? There is no greater 
mercy than that of providence which restrains 
from wanton sin, though the hand lay heavily 
for a while. Every man is a genius undevel- 
oped ; who the greater none can tell. He who 
has lost faith in man has lost all. There is in 
life nothing just right, save a mother's love. 

Faunshaw. And whence shall come the leader that 
our feet may again find the paths? 

Witch. As for man's managing man, he has made 
a veritable mess; let woman take the turn in 
hand. 

Nita. And shall the church rise again. 

Witch. That is a dishonest shadow cast by the man 
who knows no God ; law follows timidly his 
footsteps. The world can never be stripped 
of prayer. Yes, child, the temple will rise 
again. 

Faunshaw. And the academic tabernacle, shall it 
rise again? 

Witch. In the paths of wisdom of to-day, youth 
hath outstripped the aged and think that they 
are wise. The great ocean of knowledge lies 
undiscovered. We but trace the rivulets in 
the highest mountains of ignorance. The light 
will dawn and man yet know what wisdom is. 
That that is good can never die. 

Faunshaw. Are we yet like the animals in reason 
dumb; who will know when reason comes? 

Witch. Read the pages of history upon the tables 



ACT III 47 

of these walls. There in strata find the animal 
in life in lower form; and there, above, he 
lived his life of troubles, yet still he climbed, 
losing more of selfishness, the weight wherein 
that held him down. And still there, farther 
above, written by the hoary hand of Time, 
we see the dawn of reason; he cares for an- 
other ; a little of good permeates the clay ; man 
is rising higher, the eye turns in search for a 
Deity. Man will yet find wisdom's ways, then 
man will live for man. 

Faunshaw. Witch, thou mayest gain wisdom from 
the Oracles ; mayhap thy sayings are sometimes 
wise ; perchance they bear a fair report of the 
future and of things to be. 'Tis the ox that's 
down that needs a lift and not the calf unborn ; 
can thee tell straight away how we may obtain 
food? 

Witch. Set up a government, establish law and 



work. 



Scene IV 



Nitas brother in a canoe upon lake within the 
cave. He is babbling to the cave-fish that swim 
around his canoe. 

Brother. Ah, ha, finny one, wouldst thou love to 
gain thy sight and turn thy ways alike man? 
Why choose darkness to search for food? Is 
there a stain upon thy family tree? Carest 
thou not to behold the beauty of the stars and 
moon? No music here save the plaint of 



48 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

yonder owl. Be thou child or sage, I know 
not, but this I do know, the two ends meet 
again. Tis sweet to criticize when the burden 
is upon the back of another. Hast thou the 
trinity of government — law, religion and labor? 

Nita. Oh Faunshaw, my poor brother has gone 
mad, raving mad. The solemn stillness of 
these caverns has turned to ruin his noble 
brain. He babbles to the fishes his time away, 
out on yonder lake. For this madness is there 
no antidote? 

Faunshaw. Mad, thy brother mad? There is ever 
something wrong; perchance it were better 
that he babble on. All mankind is mad in 
greater or less degree. He who is maddest 
none can say. There is something wrong. Is 
the human reason a sounding void? Man 
wants and wants and wants continually. Let 
thy brother babble to the fishes for yet a little 
while, perchance their silence will teach his 
reason to return. The world is mad and I am 
mad; we differ only in degrees. Life's a mad 
race for this or that ; my madness runs to love ; 
Nita dear, I would wed thee. Be mine, my 
own; a wife to me, given in vow to me alone 
until death shall lay its claim. 

Nita. Thou wouldst woo in a land where there 
is no law? Ah, there yet remains honor among 
men. There is hope; there is hope for land 
and home. 

Faunshaw. But thy answer, will it be yea? Mine 
heart will not be still, I fail of words, my love 



ACT III 49 

for thee consumes me like unto a burning 

flame. 
Nita. Naughty Faunshaw; is love thy club? 
Faunshaw. I gamble all upon the throw. 
Nita. Thy warmth persuades me fairly well, but 

there is no law. 
Faunshaw. Love will ever find a way; yes, there 

is a law at hand, I the happiest of mortals 

among men. You, dear Nita, saved the Bible. 

{Faunshaw brings forth the Bible and places it 
upon the altar, a stone. Nita and Faunshaw place 
their hands upon the Bible). 

Faunshaw. This unto us a law shall be in marriage 
and matrimony; our witness the watchful eye 
of Deity. 

{One hand resting on the Bible, Nita, with the 
other raises above her head the flag — '*Star5 and 
Stripes"). 

Nita. And I shall wed beneath a government. 

{Marriage ceremony) . 

\ 

Faunshaw. Thou art mine, and I thine. 

Nita. Forever so let it be. 

Faunshaw. This flag is a symbol of authority. No 

government can survive without it. 
Nita. This book is a symbol of honor. No home 

can survive without it. 
Both. Let there again be a government on earth. 



50 THE DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY 

{Enter Nemo with her child). 

Nemo. Is there protection here? 
Nita. Yes, beneath this flag. 

{Enter the Jew). 

Jew. Is there protection here? 

Faunshaw. Yes, beneath this flag. 

Nita. Beneath this flag we form a government. 

Your oath to uphold it we command. Swear, 

Jew. 
Jew. I swear. 
Nita. Swear, Gentile. 
Nemo. I swear. 
Nita. {Waving the flag). The flag that is loved 

by the Jew and Gentile alike; the flag that is 

honored around the world. 
Curtain 



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